Bee-Line Bus (mtamaster edition)
The Bee-Line Bus System, branded on the buses in lowercase as the bee-line system, is a bus system serving Westchester County, New York. The system is owned by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation. It was founded on May 1, 1978, by the then Westchester County Department of Transportation to consolidate the bus system with thirteen private bus companies and has been given control over the buses, fare structure, routes, and services. By the 1980s, the bus system had an identity problem in who was providing the service. On May 19, 1987, WCDOT officially named the bus service "The Bee-Line System" with a 'bee-in-flight' mascot. The Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation currently contracts out to two private bus companies to provide service in Westchester County and the surrounding counties: Yonkers-based Liberty Lines Transit, Inc., the main company that either bought out or obtained franchises from the other twelve bus companies over the years, operates buses on all but three bus routes; and Cortlandt Manor-based P.T.L.A. Enterprise, Inc., a small company that operates buses on routes 16, 18, and 31. Scope of service Within Westchester The system's 60 routes are mostly concentrated in the more urban southern portion of the county, with more sparse service in the northern part of the county, with service concentrated near its slightly populated areas such as Mount Kisco, Ossining, or Peekskill, with paratransit service only in areas such as eastern Bedford, Lewisboro, North Salem, and Pound Ridge. White Plains, the county seat and most centrally located city, is a major transportation hub, with many routes converging on the city's TransCenter. Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers, the other major cities of the county (all located at the southern end), are the best served. All but the county's smallest, most rural communities have at least rush hour service. Outside Westchester Because Westchester County borders on the New York City borough of the Bronx, many of the Bee-Line's routes operate into the Bronx, offering Westchester residents connections to the New York City Subway system. Every subway service in the Bronx is served by at least one Bee-Line route (with the exception of U service). The Bee-Line System also operates an express route, 28X, from White Plains, Greenburgh, Hartsdale, Scarsdale and Yonkers along Central Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan (return trips operate on Madison Avenue within Manhattan). Bee-Line operates mostly closed-door service in the Bronx (local service is not provided solely for travel within Bronx; appropriate MTA Regional Bus Operations service must be used instead). The only exceptions are routes 40, 41, 42 & 43 north of the Wakefield – 241st Street station and route 45 through Pelham Bay Park since no other bus routes travel entirely through these areas. In addition, route 12 (Armonk-Purchase-White Plains) briefly enters Greenwich, Connecticut along King Street, in which it makes stops in Greenwich, CT and Rye Brook, CT (along the NY-CT State Border). Route 77 enters Putnam County to serve the US Route 6 corridor between Baldwin Place and Carmel. Route 16 briefly enters Putnam to serve the Mahopac Village Centre. Routes The Bee-Line's routes can be classified in several categories, as shown below. All Bee-Line routes accept MetroCard. Service type Local Limited-stop and express Westchester-Manhattan Express Commuter Shuttle Loops Seasonal These routes provide seasonal service to and from Rye Playland during summers only. There is no service on Mondays, excluding certain holidays. Discontinued service Fleet Active fleet This roster only lists buses and shuttle vans used in fixed route service. Paratransit vehicles are not listed. All buses are wheelchair accessible. Past fleet Historical Honors on Fleet In October 2004, then-Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano launched a month-long celebration of local history by unveiling the top 15 winning names, which were applied on all of the 2002 Orion 05.505 buses. From 2005 to January 2012, these buses each bore the name of a person, place, or thing that played a role in the development of Westchester County.